Slog - Comments on Diamonds and/or Pearls http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls What was up with that weird (and seemingly inspired-by-Prince) closing question at the debate last night? MARIA PARRA SANDOVAL: Maria Parra Sandoval, and I'm a UNLV student. And my question is for Senator Clinton. This is a fun question for you. Do you prefer diamonds or pearls? (LAUGHTER) (APPLAUSE) CLINTON: Now, I know I'm sometimes accused of not being able to make a choice. I want both. (LAUGHTER) (APPLAUSE) MALVEAUX: Do we get to ask any of the other candidates or I supposed just Senator Clinton? BIDEN: I'm for diamonds. Diamonds. Marc Ambinder has the explanation for all this, and... Copyright 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:45:21 -0800 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:46:31 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by DOUG. I thought it was a ZZ Top reference.

]]> DOUG. http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851384 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851384 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:55:50 -0800 Comment by Levislade How the hell was she "forced" to do anything in a live debate format? Couldn't she have stood up and said "Senator Clinton: spit or swallow?" or anything she damn well pleased? Oooh, CNN told her she had to! Oh no!!! What could they possibly do if she asked her own question?

Sure, CNN shouldn't be telling people what to ask, but for crying out loud, people have to submit meekly in order for that to work.

]]> Levislade http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851386 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851386 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:58:17 -0800 Comment by twee She was just following orders

]]> twee http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851387 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851387 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:59:47 -0800 Comment by SDA in SEA Holy crap.

We are in the midst of a "war on terror", whatever the hell that is, we have no health care, the real estate market is tanking, our dollar is tanking, global warming is fucking the entire planet, our government is swimming in red ink and the deficit is getting worse all the time, Bush is doing everything he can to gut the Constitution, corporations are getting more powerful and unions less powerful and jobs going overseas at an alarming rate, and we are importing toxic toys.

And this ditz thinks it's important to know if a presidential candidate prefers diamonds or pearls?

No wonder we end up with people like Bush in the White House.

]]> SDA in SEA http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851397 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851397 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:13:01 -0800 Comment by Julie On the linked page, I thought her response to the criticism against her was pretty good.

That being said, if she had a problem with the Diamonds v. Pearls thing, she could have just not asked a question at all. But, if it was a hectic environment, CNN people saying do this, this, this!, maybe she wasn't thinking about how people would react to the question and just went with the flow.

]]> Julie http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851400 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851400 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:19:49 -0800 Comment by sniggles SDA, if you read her comments on the linked page, it's clear this girl is no ditz.

That said, it was a weird and sucky way to close the debate. Not that everything has to be so painfully serious all the time (Boxers vs. briefs has made it into the history books, after all), but it was uncomfortably... fluffy. Or something. It felt wrong.

]]> sniggles http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851409 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851409 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:25:01 -0800 Comment by elenchos What do you expect when CNN gets their questions written by dirty scabs?

]]> elenchos http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851411 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851411 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:26:04 -0800 Comment by Fnarf If she wanted to ask a more substantive question, WHY DIDN'T SHE? They weren't moving her lips for her. I'm sorry, Truman Scholar or no, "policy memo" on Yucca Mountain (yawn) or no, she's a ditz.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851414 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851414 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:28:33 -0800 Comment by Eric F Are we sure she wasn't asking about Pokemon games?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Diamond_and_Pearl

]]> Eric F http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851415 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851415 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:30:24 -0800 Comment by Levislade @8 - Exactly. Or maybe not a ditz, but definitely a coward.

]]> Levislade http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851416 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851416 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:30:50 -0800 Comment by tsm @8 - agreed. It was the last question of the debate - what would they do, exactly? Kick her out?

]]> tsm http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851420 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851420 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:36:44 -0800 Comment by laterite To be fair, they had already talked about Yucca Mountain. She had time to come up with another substantive question.

]]> laterite http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851423 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851423 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:38:39 -0800 Comment by sniggles I guess you could say that, 8&10. She's all of 15 years old, though. I'm 32, and if I was standing there in front of all those people with bright lights on me and CNN was all, "ASK THE DIAMONDS QUESTION! THE DIAMONDS!", I'm sure I'd ask the stupid question.

I am, however, not a Truman Scholar.

]]> sniggles http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851427 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851427 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:41:54 -0800 Comment by Greg The more worrisome issue to me is that CNN ran a fake debate with fake questions. That's the kind of shit you expect from Fox News or the White House Press Secretary, not CNN. But then, CNN hasn't actually been valuable since 1991 anyway.

]]> Greg http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851433 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851433 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:47:04 -0800 Comment by Julie @12 -- all the questions had to be pre-approved. Of course, she could have asked a non-pre-approved question or her original question. But, the candidates had already talked about Yucca Mountain, so, whatever, nobody wanted to hear them say more about it.

The people asking questions at these things are tools of the debate hosts, nothing more. CNN is like we want a question about this topic, that topic, etc. and they select someone who asked one of those questions. They wanted a "fun" question to end the debate, and so they said, hey you, ask your "fun" question. If it wasn't her it would have been someone else.

]]> Julie http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851437 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851437 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:49:44 -0800 Comment by RHETT ORACLE "Didn't Monica get the string of pearls?" she asked, diamond hard.

]]> RHETT ORACLE http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851439 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851439 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:52:01 -0800 Comment by Fnarf OK, so she's 15. I wouldn't have been able to speak at all when I was 15. But what she should have done is say "my question about Yucca Mountain has already been asked, and they want me to ask a stupid question about diamonds and pearls, but I don't want to. Do you think the questions should be rigged like this?"

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851440 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851440 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:52:01 -0800 Comment by Julie @13 -- totally agree. This woman really wanted to ask her Yucca Mountain question, so she filled out CNN's form or whatever, which asked for a list of both your serious and non-serious questions. CNN picked someone else to ask the Yucca Mountain question (or did Wolf ask it, I forget). So, they were like, ask this stupid question or nothing. There could have been some hectic time pressure as well, who knows.

]]> Julie http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851446 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851446 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:55:41 -0800 Comment by Levislade Where are you getting that she's 15? She's a college student, isn't she?

]]> Levislade http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851452 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851452 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:00:16 -0800 Comment by Julie I don't see what everyone's problem with the questions being "rigged" are. The questions are "rigged" during the moderated portions anyways. If they weren't pre-selected during the audience portion, then we'd have had 7 questions on Yucca Mountain, or random, ridiculous questions/rants (think Pastor Hutch at the Microsoft shareholder meeting).

The whole thing is obviously not a "real" debate anyways, so whatever.

]]> Julie http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851454 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851454 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:00:44 -0800 Comment by it's me Actually, the question was meant to reveal if Senator Clinton is, in fact, a lesbian, according to a YouTube commenter here who reported: "I'm not 100% sure on this but i think that was a coded way of asking her sexuality. diamonds would mean straight and pearls would mean lesbian."

]]> it's me http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851469 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851469 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:10:04 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle I thought it was a good coded question planted by her operatives.

You're not the target audience it was intended for.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851472 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851472 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:11:19 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Pearls means lesbians? I got Mrs. Fnarf some pearls, but I didn't get any lesbians.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851491 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851491 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:22:22 -0800 Comment by max solomon she's 15 & she gets to ask a question at a presidential debate?

SHE DOESN'T GET TO VOTE IN 2008.

]]> max solomon http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851528 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851528 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:50:18 -0800 Comment by Chris in Tampa Making a statement that includes the words "according to a YouTube commenter" automatically renders that statement false.

The girl is not 15. Apparently, she set her MySpace profile to 15 to increase her privacy settings.

]]> Chris in Tampa http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851530 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851530 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:53:33 -0800 Comment by MASS DEBATERS Bring back the Lincoln-Douglas debate format. Get rid of the smarmy moderators.
Questions should be vetted simply to weed out "what's your favorite color?" Then let 'em go at it unimpeded by the slanted media process. Mano-a-Womano...

]]> MASS DEBATERS http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851535 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851535 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:56:46 -0800 Comment by Carollani I

]]> Carollani http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851538 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851538 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:58:53 -0800 Comment by Carollani Uhhh... what I wrote and what didn't appear in my last comment was:

I love Biden. He's the only candidate with an actual living, breathing, witty sense of humor.

Biden for VP!

]]> Carollani http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851541 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851541 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:00:41 -0800 Comment by brandon please. she set her myspace profile to 15 so she could get more dates.

i'm surprised no one at slog has jumped all over the sheer tackiness of asking the only female candidate a question about fucking JEWELRY.

]]> brandon http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851543 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851543 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:01:51 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Bit slow on the uptake, aren't you, Brandon? That's what this thread is about.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851556 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851556 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:13:11 -0800 Comment by agreed @28

YES that's the best we can hope for, and I'd love to see it happen. For whatever reason, people don't see him as electable (I disagree) but people can't deny that Biden knows his shit- even the other candidates frequently agree with him during debates and acknowledge his experience, accomplishments, and his proposals.

why do i feel like the only biden supporter in america?

]]> agreed http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851560 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851560 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:14:52 -0800 Comment by brandon guess so, fnarf. i thought it was about the tackiness of planting a question in the audience.

sorry, i always score really low on the reading comprehension portion of standardized tests.

]]> brandon http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851578 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851578 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:29:18 -0800 Comment by kim um, as a lesbian, i take offense to the whole "lesbians prefer pearls" thing. don't you know the lesbians prefer jewelry made out of hemp?

]]> kim http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851596 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851596 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:40:42 -0800 Comment by Julie brandon - no worries. I think we all just took it for granted that it was ridiculous to ask the only female candidate about jewelry, so instead focused on the whole how did the question get there thing.

]]> Julie http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851598 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851598 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:40:58 -0800 Comment by brandon in my own defense, what i meant by my original comment was that i was expecting more grumbling from certain, very specific corners of the slogosphere that tend to burst into flames when shit like this happens.

still, i'm kind of slow at times...

]]> brandon http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851630 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851630 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:11:27 -0800 Comment by Bubba BaBoom ...and i'm also surprised that it took 16 comments before a monica/pearl necklace joke came up.

]]> Bubba BaBoom http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851631 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851631 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:12:30 -0800 Comment by Kathy Fennessy I agree with @21. It was a coded question, and Clinton was savvy enough to provide an answer that works on both a textual and subtextual level. Well played, Clinton, well played...but I'm still voting for Obama.

]]> Kathy Fennessy http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851671 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851671 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:53:50 -0800 Comment by Big Sven agreed@31- I gave Biden some $$$ after the last debate. You're not alone. His numbers seem to be staying the cellar, though. Veep material?

]]> Big Sven http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851736 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851736 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:45:06 -0800 Comment by Big Sven "They can have their diamonds
And we'll have our pearls"

-Jill Sobule, _I_Kissed_A_Girl_

]]> Big Sven http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851743 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851743 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:47:31 -0800 Comment by Irena That's it, Brandon. Our date's off!

]]> Irena http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851822 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851822 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:38:08 -0800 Comment by brandon c'mon - cut me some slack, irena! if it's any consolation, i consider bursting into flames to be a very endearing quality :)

]]> brandon http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851842 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851842 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:56:50 -0800 Comment by Irena Okay, it's on again. (And I promise to recommend you to all the most flaming guys I know.)

]]> Irena http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851932 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/diamonds_andor_pearls#c851932 2008 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:46:31 -0800